Peanut Butter Oat Cookies
These peanut butter oatmeal cookies are 100% delicious. Plus, they're gluten free and easy to make in just one bowl. Meet your new favorite cookie recipe!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 19, 2024
I’d like to introduce you to my new favorite cookies. This peanut butter oatmeal cookie recipe yields cookies that are tender on the inside, chewy around the middle, and just barely crisp around the edges.
These cookies are loaded with pure peanut butter flavor. They’re sweet, but not cloyingly so. If you’re a fan of my monster cookie recipe, you’ll enjoy these as well. I can vouch that they’ll be a hit with your family, friends, kids and coworkers.
Oats make these cookies more hearty than most. In fact, oats are the only structure this flourless cookie recipe needs. As long as your oats are certified gluten free, these cookies will be, too.
These cookies are easy to make, too. You don’t need to soften your butter first (just melt it). You don’t need to pull out a heavy stand mixer (your hand mixer or some elbow grease will work great). And, you’ll only need one mixing bowl. Winning!
More than any other merit, though, these peanut butter cookies are delicious. They’re cookies and that’s what cookies should be, right?
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Ingredients
This recipe is quite versatile. You’ll notice that different amounts are offered for some of the alternative options. That’s because they vary by volume (and make my job more difficult, but who can complain about extra cookies?).
Peanut Butter
As it turns out, creamy or chunky peanut butters work. I generally buy “natural” peanut butters, and this recipe has worked with all of them. You can even make your own peanut butter for freshly roasted peanut flavor.
Coconut sugar or brown sugar
Coconut sugar is a less refined sugar with a few trace nutrients, and I always try to work with natural sweeteners when possible. Brown sugar works well if that’s what you have on hand.
Coconut oil or butter
Either way, melt it before using. I can’t really taste the coconut oil, but it does make the cookies taste more interesting in a hard-to-put-your-finger-on kind of way. That’s why I chose to list coconut oil first. If you want your cookies to be dairy free, use coconut oil.
Eggs
Eggs act as a binding ingredient and a leavener, which means that they help the cookies rise. Eggs are essential if you want your cookies to turn out like mine. That said, I’ve shared some notes from readers about using flax eggs as an alternative in the recipe notes.
Baking soda
Baking soda is another leavener that helps your cookies bake up nice and fluffy. Don’t substitute baking powder; they behave differently. Always, always, always use the leavener specified in the recipe.
Quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
Quick oats disappear more into the cookies, creating a more uniform texture. I prefer quick-cooking oats, so that’s what you’ll see in the photos. Old-fashioned oats offer a more hearty and discernible texture.
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Variations
Substitute other nut butters.
I love how these cookies turn out with peanut butter, but they’ll also work with almond butter or sunflower seed butter.
Stir in some extras.
You can add up to 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, chopped nuts, raisins or dried fruit.
Make bigger cookies.
This recipe yields around 27 medium cookies (about 3 inches across). If you double the size of each cookie to use 1/4 cup of dough each, you’ll end up with 13 to 14 large cookies instead (about 4.5 inches wide). The large cookies will require somewhere between 8 to 11 minutes in the oven.
Please let me know how your cookies turn out in the comments! I love hearing from you and appreciate your feedback.
Craving more cookies and treats? Check these out:
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Crispy Bars
- Monster Cookies
- Spiced Oatmeal Cookies
- Coffee Chocolate Chip Blondies
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
These peanut butter oatmeal cookies are 100% delicious. Plus, they’re gluten free and easy to make in just one bowl. Meet your new favorite peanut butter cookie recipe! Recipe yields about 27 cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups creamy or chunky peanut butter (that’s one full 16-ounce jar minus ¼ cup)
- 2 ½ cups packed coconut sugar or 2 cups lightly packed brown sugar
- ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or 5 tablespoons melted butter
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups quick-cooking oats or 2 ¾ cups old-fashioned oats (certified gluten-free if necessary)
- Optional: flaky sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line tw0 large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats for easy clean-up.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter with the sugar and coconut oil. Use an electric mixer or a large spoon to mix until well combined. Add the eggs, baking soda and vanilla, and mix well. Add the oats and mix until they’re evenly incorporated.
- Drop 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie onto the prepared baking sheets. These cookies spread while baking, so leave a couple of inches around each one. Gently shape them into a more rounded mound and press down lightly so they’re no taller than 1 inch.
- Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until they’re just starting to turn golden around the edges. Do not overbake. They will flatten more as they cool. Let the cookies cool for 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. In the meantime, bake your next round of cookies, and so on.
- If desired, sprinkle the cookies lightly with flaky sea salt. Let them cool completely before storing them in an airtight container. Cookies will keep well for several days at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Great tasting cookies! Although my turned out flat, not nearly as good looking as yours. If I followed the recipe exactly, what could I have done incorrectly to make them flat?
Hi! Are you cooking at an elevation by chance?
Has anyone tried cutting down on the sugar with successful results by chance? I’d like to try to use less coconut sugar but not sure how much less to try or if that will mess everything up. I saw someone say they cut the sugar in half and the cookies tasted metallicy? Not sure why cutting the sugar would cause that result but would love any tips if people have them!
By the way Kate, I love your muffin recipes and the granola recipe! I’m now looking at your other recipes since the other ones I’ve tried have been so wonderful. Thank you for these!
I just tried the recipe and mine came out flat too. I am not cooking at an elevation. I’ll stay posted for an update on how to make them a little more fluffy.
I was cooking at sea level, which makes me extra confused! They still tasted great!
Yummy chewy GF cookies! I bake for my daughter in law who has Celiac’s so I’m always looking for new ideas. These were great. I didn’t have a problem with spreading/flattening out but I chilled the dough for a couple hours before baking and used a cookie scoop.
I’m glad she loves these cookies, Dianne! I appreciate your review.
All organic ingredients used. Coconut oil.
For some reason, they are VERY crumbly. They taste faintly metallic? Like baking soda? But I used the correct amounts of everything in recipe but adjusted sugar to half. What did I do wrong? :(
Hi Rosie, Changing the amount of sugar impacted your results.
Does it matter what type of peanut butter you use? I typically have natural peanut butter (no sugar or salt added) and have had trouble with other recipes.
Hi! I use natural peanut butter here. Just be sure it’s mixed/stirred well before using as the oil separating can impact it.
These cookies are incredible! The first couple times I made them they turned out very flat, but still delicious. I just made them again and decided not to flatten them as much and they turned out perfect. I only pressed on them slightly after rolling in a ball. These are by far our favorite peanut butter cookies and all my kids agree!
I’m glad you love them! Thanky ou for sharing. I’m sorry they turned out flat. Did you over stir them by chance?
I think two tablespoons of dough per cookie is too much. One tablespoon is probably correct
This really is a perfect recipe. I use no-sugar, all-peanut pb and reduce the sugar just a bit. Quick oats work well. These are a great substitute for Belvitas in the morning or a good nighttime dessert snack. Also works as cookie bars. Baking time and temperature are very forgiving too.
Cookies turned out really yummy. I used extra virgin olive oil instead of coconut oil and it worked well. Your website is my first choice for cooking inspiration. Thank you so much for sharing.
You’re welcome, Lucy!
Can you store these in the freezer?
Sure! I hope you love them.
Can date sugar be subsituted for coconut sugar? I use many of your recipes, always good and usually repeats. I don’t bake much but want to make these cookies for visiting grandchildren.
I haven’t tried it, so I can’t say for sure. Sorry!
Hi Kate, I live in England and use grams/kilograms/ millilitres or U.K. pounds and ounces and U.K. fluid ounces. Is there any chance you could have metric equivalents in your recipes? I get so fed up looking up the equivalents of fractions of a U.S. cup for different things – flour, sugar- granulated, caster or icing(confectioners), oats, butter!! and liquids. With messy hands I am looking for the relevant page with this info on it and then finding your page again. Other cookery sites are starting to offer this. If you could too it would be great. Here’s hoping,
Sue.
Hi Sue, Sorry to disappoint, I don’t provide conversions. I do know others have used a conversion chart to help.
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe! This has become my fail proof cookie recipe. It turns out the best every time. My 2.5 year old loves them; my husband is a big fan. He says, ‘Don’t ever try any other recipe’. ;)
Thanks again! :)
You’re welcome, Sireesha!
I made these cookies for when a few of my grandchildren were visiting. Their family, including the kids, all make cookies and muffins, so I was a bit worried about my effort – I don’t bake a lot. The cookies were a big hit with my youngest grandson, and granddaughter. Two thumbs up!
I’m excited you loved these cookies, Fran!
Love these cookies! So easy and quick to put together! I followed the recipe exactly and the texture was perfect and they were delicious! I will definitely be making these again! We love your recipes!
Wonderful to hear, Alison!
These are the best! I did mine in an air fryer as I don’t have an oven. Addictive!
Thank you for sharing, Lu!
I’m sure these are good, but 18 grams of sugar for one cookie doesn’t seem healthy to me.
ohhhh Kate, these are VERY GOOD!!!! I read the comments, there are so many variables in baking, sometimes you need to rely on your experience. I knew I put in too much coconut oil so I just added more oats, plus I knew the Jiffy peanut butter was going to be thinner than the healthy peanut butter I should have used, hence go with common sense and add more oats or less of something else. I also have hung a thermometer in my oven, I baked for 13 minutes. My oven needs to go but I am not giving up yet. Thank you Kate so happy to have you!!!!
Great to hear, Trex! I appreciate your review.
I’d love to make these cookies, but how can we reduce sugar? That’s a lot! Thanks. Love the banana bread recipe, it’s our favorite and have made it for years!
I love to hear that, Jennifer! Thank you for your review.
These cookies are amazing!
I added Pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate chips.
Something I really appreciated about your recipe is that you can use natural peanut butter. Every other peanut butter cookie recipe I have ever seen recommends using the “junky” peanut butter. Thank you so much for this recipe!
You’re welcome, Dee! I appreciate your review.
Big, big hit at our house. Subbed flax meal for egg binder. Added 1 1/2c choc chips. Used my cookie round and did not flatten. They were perfection. Xoxo
Great to hear, Karla! Thank you for your review.
Was skeptical at first considering I wasn’t looking for a healthy cookie recipe but gave them a shot! If your using old fashioned oats let your batter rest about 30 minutes or longer so the oats have a chance to soften up a bit and absorb peanut butter. I used 1/2 coconut sugar 1/2 brown and 50/50 butter and coconut oil. I did not like these straight out of the oven? But the next day they were fabulous! I’m making them again right now! This time I swapped 1/2 cup of oats for coconut! GREAT the next day cooled off!
I’m happy to hear you tried them anyway, Missy! I appreciate your review.
These are really yummy. They really do spread, making for more of a flattened oat cookie. I used 4 cooking sheets to make the 36 cookies. I substituted sunflower seed butter to make these school friendly and added 1 cup of dark chocolate chips.
These turned out perfectly! Exactly what I felt like, something to snack on with some substance and not too sweet.
Cookies were so delicious.My family would like more,said best cookies I ever baked!!1
I made these cookies according to the recipe with coconut oil. The batter is delicious, but it busted my hand mixer. My trusty mixer was literally smoking the batter was so thick. Bye-bye motor.
Good but 2+ cups of sugar made my teeth hurt. Would make again just less sweetener.
How long can these be stored? Can they be frozen?
Cookies will keep well for several days at room temperature. These should freeze well.
Thank you for the great recipe! For those that are low carb – for the sweetener, I used Splenda’s new “Magic Maker” brown blend. I had to bake them longer (about 17-18 minutes) to get them cooked through. Since the sweetener has Allulose in it, the cookies are not crispy but them taste amazing and stay together really well. They remind me of the Archway oatmeal cookies I used to eat as a kid.
#1!
My favorite!
It was so delicious and I loved it so much I had to make it again and again. Thank you for sharing this recipe Kate!
You’re welcome!
Hi Kate,
This is the first recipe of yours that I’ve been disappointed in. I didn’t like the texture or the taste and they came out too flat. And way too much vanilla. Oh, well!
I’m sorry to hear you didn’t love this, Bill. Be sure you don’t over stir as that can impact how they rise.
Great recipe! I used 2c coconut sugar, 5 table of vegan butter (Melt), and 1 cup of Enjoy Life vegan chocolate chips. I think the vegan butter hardens better than coconut oil so that may be why mine kept its shape. But that’s just a theory. I like the peanut butter to shine (Teddie, salted not the organic is my go to) and a little less sugar is good for my taste. They were a hit at the party.
I love to hear that! Thank you for your review, Elizabeth.
Hi…I made these and used monk fruit brown sugar, American Dream Oatmeal creme Almond Butter, walnuts, dark choc sugar free chips. Boy did they spread, but OH SO GOOD !!!! Thanks for the framework recipe…I’ll make again :)
I think I know why some people’s cookies have been coming out flat. I made a double batch and followed the quantities for 2x, and mine turned out flat too. I should have looked closer to make sure the quantities are actually doubled. I put in only half the amount of oatmeal required until I caught the mistake in the recipe (should have been 5.5 cups of old fashioned oats instead of 2.75). After I added more oatmeal to my remaining cookie dough, they turned out great!
These are my new favorite cookies! Mine did not flatten. I am trying to limit sugar so I used a mashed very ripe banana for one of the cups of brown sugar. I used coconut oil. My dough was really sticky and I worried it was too wet from using a banana. I’m glad I resisted the urge to add flour because they turned out great. You cannot taste the banana at all. It gets masked by the peanut butter. I also added chocolate chunks. I baked for 8 minutes. Sooo good! Thank you for a great recipe.
These cookies were foolproof for me. Last fall I had been given a jar of “natural” nut and seed butter with what else- pumpkin spice. I used this in place of peanut butter and 1 cup of raisons. Using a 2 tablespoon scoop and no flattening of the scooped dough, I did a test cookie on parchment. It spread more than I wanted , so I added another 1/2 cup of quick oats. That did the trick for me. I found silicone mat released the baked and 10 minute cooled cookies butter than parchment. Make sure not to over bake these cookies. After about 8 1/2 minutes the cookies still looked a little wet in the center but golden on the edges. Perfect once they cooled. When I make these again, I will buy natural peanut butter. My partner likes Jiffy, but the natural peanut butter will make these cookies so “healthy.”
I’m not one for leaving a review but this recipe blew me away. I expected it to fail and had told myself to expect that. So when it worked and they are the perfect yin for my yang, I had to share. I’m older and don’t bother with cookies but prefer to make bar sweets. Mixed it per instructions and spread in 9 x 16 pan. I set the timer for 25 to start and when I checked decided to wait and let it go a bit longer. I didn’t think it would rise and spread like it did because the mess I spread in the pan didn’t impress me at all. It rose just to the top edge like I planned it that way and when I tried it later I thought ‘okay better than expected.’ Well, these are the most delicious healthy brownies with the peanut flavor I was craving and the oatmeal texture I enjoy. I did add some chopped walnuts and they just add to the texture. My new Fav treat!
I liked these a lot. I had wanted to cut down the sugar but didn’t, because another person apparently had done so and they didn’t turn out well, she said. It’s great to have input like that to know what not to change! The only thing I changed was I made my own brown sugar from molasses and white sugar, as I had run out of the brown. Would make these again – I gave up chocolate for Lent so these were my savior (LOL, no pun intended)!
Thanks for sharing, Marlene!